Liu confirmation looks unlikely

By BEN SMITH

05/19/2011 01:36 PM EDT

The Senate looks unlikely to confirm Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, with Republican senators citing his testimony during Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's confirmation process and fears that he would drag the Court too far to the left:

McCain said Liu’s nomination is an “extraordinary circumstance,” pointing to tough testimony Liu gave during the confirmation process of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

At the time, Liu said Alito’s “record envisions an America where police may shoot and kill an unarmed boy to stop him from running away with a stolen purse … where a black man may be sentenced to death by an all-white jury for killing a white man.”

Graham went even further in criticizing Liu’s remarks.

“That to me showed an ideological superiority or disdain for conservative ideology that made him, in my view, an ideologue,” the South Carolina Republican said. - Show quoted text -